


Discovering New Things

by jacquelee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: ladiesbingo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 06:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6362299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Studying the courtship rituals of animals who may or may not exist can lead to discoveries of a different kind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Discovering New Things

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [ladiesbingo](http://ladiesbingo.dreamwidth.org) for the prompt Courtship Rituals.

Traveling with Luna Lovegood was an experience Pinar was really thankful for. While she had had some doubts in the beginning, the longer this trip went on, the more she appreciated the other woman and her way of thinking and the more she realized how similar the both of them were and how good they understood each other. 

When she had agreed to this expedition, she had just been curious, especially since everyone in the magizoologist community was convinced that Luna was a laughing stock at best and that she shouldn't be anywhere but a psychiatric ward at worst, even when she had gained some fame over having been at the battle of Hogwarts five years ago. 

Her belief in creatures such as the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and Aquavirius Maggots and the fact that her father had been the editor of the Quibbler, a magazine most people did not take seriously at all, made her someone even most wizarding naturalists, who were already more open minded than most others when it came to weird species of magical beasts, avoided, meaning she had to undertake most of her expeditions on her own. 

So far, that apparently had worked out for her, since she claimed to have found proof for the existence of a new species, the Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibs, in the Arctic ocean by Greenland. But since the pictures she provided were doubted by the community and nobody else had been there, nobody believed her. 

That was why she had tried to raise support for another expedition to Greenland, to be able to confirm the existence of these animals and to further study their courtship rituals, which she described as one of the most stunning sights in the world. 

And while Pinar didn't really know if she believed in the Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibs herself – she definitely did not believe in the Crumple-Horned Snorkack – she did not like one bit the way her arrogant, condescending colleagues treated Luna and how they had laughed her out of the assembly where she had asked for people to accompany her. 

So she had offered her help and while she herself wasn't taken all too seriously by the community, seeing she was not a white male, she had been in it for years and they knew that she was to be reckoned with. 

In the end, they gave in, saying that if the two of them provided evidence of the existence of Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibses, they would recognize them as new species and Luna as the one who had found them, which would go a long way towards establishing her as a serious magizoologist. 

And that was how she had ended up here now, amidst icebergs and miles and miles of water with just the small island of Jan Mayen as the nearest land, in a tiny boat that was magically kept warm, thankfully, with a person whose oddness she more and more appreciated the more she understood how similar it was to her own. 

Right now, Luna was poring over maps and looking at calendars and charts. 

"We are nearly there. The mating grounds of the Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibs is exactly where the hooded seals are mating. I believe their courtship rituals are intricately intertwined. 

The males are showing off their nose bags in a fascinating ritual that involves dancing and diving while giving off magical sparks to entrance the hooded seals. It is truly amazing how these two species have come to interact. The last time I didn't have enough resources to stay long enough to study them so I am truly looking forward to do that." 

For the first time since she started speaking, Luna looked up and smiled her dreamy smile, the one that Pinar had truly begun to look forward to, especially since she knew it was reserved for things Luna truly appreciated. 

She nodded and had to admit that despite Luna's embellishing of things, her theories were sound. 

For aquatic mammals to have a system of showing to prospective mates that their lung capacity was at peak efficiency and that they could produce healthy offspring made a lot of sense and the hooded seals themselves could have been named bag-nosed seals if someone with more creativity had named them. 

This part of Luna's theory definitely panned out, and the idea that different species lived together in the same geographical niche and complemented each other also made a lot of sense. The Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibs, according to Luna, was dependent on the remains of the fish the hooded seals caught in their forays, led by the Glimpleblibses themselves, whose magic sparks could find even the most clever schools of fish. 

The remains of the fish the hooded seals consumed sank to the bottom of the sea where the Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibs waited to clean them up. Since they were still mammals, albeit very small and fishlike ones, they depended on their large lung capacity. 

Therefore their courtship rituals were designed to both show off their nose bags as proof that they had the necessary lung capacity and to show their ability to produce magic sparks to keep the hooded seals nearby, proving that they were able to provide food for their offspring from their primary food source. 

"You will see, their dance is one of the most fascinating you've ever witnessed. We'll go underwater tomorrow and maybe they'll even let us dance with them." 

"I hope so. I always loved a good dance." 

Luna smiled her warm smile again. Pinar got up.

"We should sleep now so that tomorrow we can get up early to prepare all our equipment." 

"Of course." 

Pinar turned to leave the room. 

"Good night." 

"Good night." 

Pinar opened the door that led to her tiny room that basically consisted of a cot. She was already about to go through when Luna's voice, silent but audible, held her back. 

"Thank you." 

She turned.

"Thanks for what?" 

Now Luna's smile was even warmer, albeit a bit shy. 

"For believing in me." 

Pinar smiled too but wasn't sure what to say.

"Of course. We'll find the Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibses tomorrow."

"I didn't mean that." 

"I know." 

They held each other's gaze for a few more moments, relishing in their mutual understanding. Then they went to sleep. 

When they indeed witnessed and photographed the courtship rituals of the Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibs a few days later, it wasn't even much of a victorious feeling for Luna. 

Because the true discovery had come before that. She had found someone who had believed in her before she had proof, who hadn't told her she was crazy or wrong but instead actually understood her imagination and curiosity as something that deeply made her her, not just oddities or faults but actual strengths and admirable traits. 

More than that, she had found someone who shared her world view, who truly wanted to find species like the Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibs. No matter how much she advanced in the wizarding naturalist community and how many species she discovered afterwards, this one expedition would always have the most special place in her heart. 

And not just because of the truly fascinating courtship rituals of the Bag-Nosed Glimpleblibs, even though that was very much a sight to see and something she definitely wouldn't ever forget. 

But she and Pinar remained friends for their entire lives and went on many expeditions together, discovering new species and simply enjoying each other's company, basking in the knowledge that they each finally had found the person who unconditionally not just accepted but truly liked them for who they were.


End file.
